You and Dark Tranquillity

[Psylight]

Personal

01 What is your name?
Rene

02 Where do you live?
Los Angeles, USA

03 How old are you?
23


Getting to know Dark Tranquillity

04 Since when have you been listening to DT?
Hmm...since around 2001 or 2002.

05 Which is the first song you heard from DT?
I believe it was either Punish My Heaven, or Monochromatic Stains.

06 Which is the first song that made you absolutely amazed with DT and made you want to listen to all their stuff?
Hedon or Lethe, both are killer in my book. But prob Hedon.

Favorite Dark Tranquillity stuff

07 What are your two favorite albums from DT?
Damage Done/Projector

08 Do you have a certain favorite song from DT? If so, what is it?
Crimson Winds,Lethe, Hedon, Cathode Ray Sunshine, I Deception, Format C: for Cortex, One Thought,.

09 What are some of your favorite DT solos ?
The Sun Fired Blanks, Nether Novas, Crimson Winds

10 Do you like DT lyrics? Which albums/songs do you like the most lyrically?
They are all brilliant, but I like Hedon's lyrics alot.

Thoughts about the "newer Dark Tranquillity" debate

11 Would you consider yourself an "elitist"? What do you think about the newer DT releases? Would you prefer them over older stuff?
I think their new stuff is great. I do not prefer one of the other.

12 Are you interested in DT as much as you were three years ago? If not, why is it so?
I am more interested than 3 years ago. I finally got to see them on their USA 2008 tour supporting Arch Enemy. Brilliant show, but so short.
Thoughts about the members

13 Which DT member do you like the most? Why?
Mikael Stanne. I have always loved his vocals and I got to touch his hair in the mosh pit at the DT show in Hollywood.

14 Would you prefer Fredrik over Martin Henriksson on guitars?
Not necessarily.

15 Would you prefer Martin Henriksson over Michael on bass?
Yes

16 Would you prefer Michael over Anders Jivarp on drums?

What the?
17 Would you prefer Anders Friden over Mikael on vocals?
Not a chance.

18 Which "era" or which albums do you think Mikael has performed the best?
I love the vocals in Projector, and Character the most.

19 Would you prefer screams or deeper growls from Mikael?
hmm...I think screams.

20 What do you think about Mikael's clean vocals? Would it be good if he did only screams/growls, or is it better this way?
I love his clean vocals, unlike Anders Friden's horrible clean vocals. It is good for him to sing some songs half clean/half scream and growl.

21 Do you think Michael has any influence on DT music?
He must.

Miscellaneous

22 Other favorite bands?
DT is my favorite. Iron Maiden also.

[firewindraging]

01 What is your name?
Andrew
02 Where do you live?
Central Coast of California
03 How old are you?
16
04 Since when have you been listening to DT?
Almost 2 years ago I found them
05 Which is the first song you heard from DT?
Lost to Apathy
06 Which is the first song that made you absolutely amazed with DT and made you want to listen to all their stuff?
Probably Punish My Heaven
07 What are your two favorite albums from DT?
Damage Done, The Gallery
08 Do you have a certain favorite song from DT? If so, what is it?
Edenspring
09 What are some of your favorite DT solos?
Wonders at Your Feet, DT is great at putting emotion into their solos without being too flashy
10 Do you like DT lyrics? Which albums/songs do you like the most lyrically?
DT has great lyrics, tough call, but Skydancer might have the most epic sounding ones
11 Would you consider yourself an "elitist"? What do you think about the newer DT releases? Would you prefer them over older stuff?
Not prefer, but their newer stuff is so god damn awesome live. The only older song they played was Punish My Heaven and I couldn't hear it too well.
12 Are you interested in DT as much as you were three years ago? If not, why is it so?
I didn't know about them that long ago
13 Which DT member do you like the most? Why?
Mikael, he is my favorite death metal vocalist
14 Would you prefer Fredrik over Martin Henriksson on guitars?
Wasn't Fredrik from a while back in the band?? I'd prefer Henriksson playing bass actually
15 Would you prefer Martin Henriksson over Michael on bass?
Yes
16 Would you prefer Michael over Anders Jivarp on drums?
Not really
17 Would you prefer Anders Friden over Mikael on vocals?
Nah, Anders had a good run while it lasted but he sucks pretty bad now and Mikael has always been better anyways
18 Which "era" or which albums do you think Mikael has performed the best?
The Gallery (the bonus tracks are so awesome)
19 Would you prefer screams or deeper growls from Mikael?
I would prefer both styles on the same CD or even song but I guess screams
20 What do you think about Mikael's clean vocals? Would it be good if he did only screams/growls, or is it better this way?
Honestly I'm not the biggest fan of his clean vocals but mixing things up is always good.
21 Do you think Michael has any influence on DT music?
No idea
22 Other favorite bands?
Besides the more obvious ones (Maiden, Metallica, Dio etc.) Arsis, Symphony X, Bruce Dickinson, Firewind, Opeth, Kalmah
23 Anything you want to add and...
This is a pretty cool survey

[Nt3N]

01 What is your name?
Nico
02 Where do you live?
Venice, Italy
03 How old are you?
21
04 Since when have you been listening to DT?
since 2003
05 Which is the first song you heard from DT?
Punish My Heaven
06 Which is the first song that made you absolutely amazed with DT and made you want to listen to all their stuff?
Punish My Heaven
07 What are your two favorite albums from DT?
The Gallery, Fiction
08 Do you have a certain favorite song from DT? If so, what is it?
Cathode Ray Sunshine
09 What are some of your favorite DT solos?
TWAYF
10 Do you like DT lyrics? Which albums/songs do you like the most lyrically?
I love DT lyrics, particularly the ones in The Gallery and Projector
11 Would you consider yourself an "elitist"? What do you think about the newer DT releases? Would you prefer them over older stuff?
New DT releases are excellent, I love them.
12 Are you interested in DT as much as you were three years ago? If not, why is it so?
Sure
13 Which DT member do you like the most? Why?
Mikael, his vocals send shivers down my spine (quote)
14 Would you prefer Fredrik over Martin Henriksson on guitars?
Don't think so, this is of no relevance to me
15 Would you prefer Martin Henriksson over Michael on bass?
Not sure
16 Would you prefer Michael over Anders Jivarp on drums?
Hehehhe, nope!
17 Would you prefer Anders Friden over Mikael on vocals?
No no no no no no no no!
18 Which "era" or which albums do you think Mikael has performed the best?
The Gallery and Fiction
19 Would you prefer screams or deeper growls from Mikael?
I love the mix
20 What do you think about Mikael's clean vocals? Would it be good if he did only screams/growls, or is it better this way?
I likve very much his cleans, he should use them some more.
21 Do you think Michael has any influence on DT music?
Probably yes, Mikael told many times the resulting song is a connection of influences from 6 different people.
22 Other favorite bands?
Opeth, In Flames (OLD only), Rush, and lots more
23 Anything you want to add and...

[Misanthrope]

Personal
01 What is your name?
-Ernesto, Ernest for console customers, Posh for some old friends, Neto for my loved ones, "Leave me the fuck alone" for most people on the internet.

02 Where do you live?
-Monterrey, Mexico.

03 How old are you?
-27

Getting to know Dark Tranquillity
04 Since when have you been listening to DT?
-Circa 1999-2000.

05 Which is the first song you heard from DT?
-The Dividing Line

06 Which is the first song that made you absolutely amazed with DT and made you want to listen to all their stuff?
-The Dividing Line

Favorite Dark Tranquillity stuff
07 What are your two favorite albums from DT?
-The Gallery, Projector.

08 Do you have a certain favorite song from DT? If so, what is it?
-Nether Novas.

09 What are some of your favorite DT solos ?
-Punish My Heaven comes to mind. Maybe because they are the ones Ive studied the most ( and if you look at my tab I actually mixed the Album recording with a live version and somehow it still sounds ok, that right there tells you how solid are the melodies when just parts of them can stand on their own )

10 Do you like DT lyrics? Which albums/songs do you like the most lyrically?
-Yes I do. I like the minds eye era Lyrics the most, I kinda miss Niklas as lyricist cause he complemented Mikael so well...

Thoughts about the "newer Dark Tranquillity" debate
11 Would you consider yourself an "elitist"? What do you think about the newer DT releases? Would you prefer them over older stuff?
-Trick question. I am a hardcore elitist but I still love the "new" stuff and three is a reason I use quotation marks: its not new, it has been building up to this for decades so how can it be new?

There are just many more aspects and sides to the band nowadays, for example extensive touring has definitely changed and impacted the compositions a lot. You can just tell when you are used to experience mostly studio and rehearsals and when you have been touring the world since it impacts your music.

Its just that people are used to the juxtaposition of the past as the newer albums have a lot more cohesion without loosing complexity one bit.

12 Are you interested in DT as much as you were three years ago? If not, why is it so?
-I am more interested now since 3 years ago was fairly burned out with death metal music and needed to branch out. Now I have a better idea of how to compose within a genre and wearing all my influences on my sleeves without using a steretypical riff approach to composing.

Thoughts about the members
13 Which DT member do you like the most? Why?
-I cannot reply since I do not personally know any of them enough.

14 Would you prefer Fredrik over Martin Henriksson on guitars?
-Fredrik then, Martin now. All is as it should be, and no its not a bail out answer, im simply saying DT has made some great choices throughout the years.

15 Would you prefer Martin Henriksson over Michael on bass?
-Not really. This one is difficult to explain. So I wont.

16 Would you prefer Michael over Anders Jivarp on drums?
-No.

17 Would you prefer Anders Friden over Mikael on vocals?
-Friden?

18 Which "era" or which albums do you think Mikael has performed the best?
-Projector

19 Would you prefer screams or deeper growls from Mikael?
-I prefer him to be intense and understandable, just as he is now.

20 What do you think about Mikael's clean vocals? Would it be good if he did only screams/growls, or is it better this way?
-I love his clean vocals. I wish we had more growl-less DT songs.

21 Do you think Michael has any influence on DT music?
-I never seen the band work on their compositions I cannot tell.

Miscellaneous
22 Other favorite bands?
-Right now I am mostly into Doom so the usual suspects ( old Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Swallow the Sun, old the Gathering, etc ) but I am also learning a lot by listening to some old horn players ( John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Dizzy Guillespie, Charlie Parker )